Number Thirteen
by TurboNerd
Summary: Another Cylon model but this one's different what impact will her presence have on the fleet? Why did she reveal herself in the first place?
1. Unexpected and Unwelcome Company

Number Thirteen

(Don't own anything!)

"Excuse me, sir?"

Captain Lee Adama turned to face a distressed-looking Lieutenant Gaeta.

"What can I do for you Lieutenant?"

"Sir, I was reviewing the transport logs for the week and I, uh, found something you should see."

He didn't move.

"And - what is it Mr. Gaeta?"

Gaeta handed him the paper he'd been holding. It was a passenger manifest from one of the dozens of civilian transports that'd come and gone from _Galactica_. He scanned the passenger list quickly wondering what Gaeta's problem was. His eyes locked when they reached the name third from the bottom. He griped the paper.

"Has Commander Adama seen this?"

He asked in a coarse whisper

"No, sir - I just found it."

Lee didn't respond but quickly exited the CIC and nearly broke into a run on his way to his father's quarters. He didn't knock when he found the hatch unlocked, but burst in.

President Laura Roslin huffed angrily and flashed a heated stare at the man sitting on the other end of the couch.

"Commander, it simply doesn't work that way!"

She shouted. Commander William Adama yanked his glasses off and was preparing to return the shout when the hatch to his quarters flung open and Lee practically jumped in clutching a paper.

"Dad, you gotta see this."

Lee said breathlessly, forgetting all protocol

"Excuse me, but what are you doing Captain."

Adama asked angrily, his temper still stoked from the argument with Roslin.

"I'm sorry, but this is important."

"What then."

Lee thrust the crumpled paper at him. Adama took it.

"What's this?"

He asked without looking at it.

"It's a passenger manifest from one of the shuttles from the _Rising Star_ - look at the third name from the bottom."

Adama sighed irritably and replaced his glasses. He scanned the list and inhaled sharply. The third name from the bottom was - _Caroline Adama _- he stopped and read it again before looking back up at Lee.

"That's not possible."

"No, it's not."

Roslin's indignant voice broke the silence that had settled

"Mind telling me what's going on, gentlemen?"

Her voice still had an edge in it from the argument began by her and Adama before Lee interrupted. Both men turned to her, their faces gaunt.

"According to this, there's a passenger on the _Rising Star_ named Caroline Adama."

Adama explained awkwardly. Roslin wrinkled her eyebrows.

"I was under the impression that she -"

"Died? She _was_ on Caprica the day of the attack - I spoke with her before I left for _Galactica_."

Lee interrupted her, but he was forcing the words like he wanted to be wrong. Adama placed a hand on Lee's shoulder.

"Could this just be a coincidence?"

Roslin asked

"Maybe."

Adama replied gruffly. Roslin sighed.

"But you want to check it out anyway?"

The two men fell silent and she stared at them with a pointed expression.

"How many people have you met named 'Adama' besides us?"

Lee asked catching and holding her gaze with an equally sharp look. They all fell silent.

"Be discreet - the last thing we need is the military accused of harassing civilians - better yet, let me handle it."

It had taken Roslin several days to find the woman and get her aboard _Galactica_. Adama and Lee now waited for her in the Ward Room. Both men paced furiously. The sound of the hatch stopped them on opposite sides of the room. Roslin stepped through the hatch first followed by a slender red-head. Of course it wasn't her - both men knew that from the start but clung to a tiny shred of hope that it might be. She was pleasing to look at, piercing green eyes, pretty red hair that fell in curls to her shoulders and great legs. She was unusually tall for a woman and, even without heels, she'd have easily looked Lee in the eye. She looked like a model from a magazine but with more substance. She smiled sadly.

"I'm sorry I'm not who you thought I was - whoever that is - she must've been important to you."

Lee returned her smile weakly. Adama simply hardened his face and nodded. The red-head's expression became suddenly serious.

"The confusion really was necessary though."

"What are you talking about?"

Roslin asked, casting a sugary, fake smile. She responded by pushing Roslin into Adama, who caught her and stumbled. She closed the space between her and Lee in a few, fast strides, as she took her last step towards him she kicked her leg up and pinned him against the wall, his throat caught in the crook of her high-heel. He grabbed her leg, trying to throw her off, but her leg was like a beam, holding him to the wall.

"Don't move,"

She commanded Adama and Roslin, who'd regained their composure and were beginning to move to Lee's aid.

"in the time it took you to cross the room, or get those guards, I'd snap his neck with a single flick of my ankle."

Adama and Roslin froze where they stood.

"What do you want?"

Adama asked harshly.

"I want you to listen - violence seems to be the only way to get your attention."

She replied

"Is that why you were using Caroline's name?"

"Yes."

"I think you have the Commander's attention - now let Captain Adama go."

Roslin said forcefully

"I intend to, after I explain a few things."

Adama sighed angrily and took a step forward.

"Stay right there Commander -"

She said, stopping him once more.

"Who the hell are you?"

He growled at her. The red-head smiled.

"I'm Number Thirteen."

"What?"

"I am a Cylon, the thirteenth model."

"I thought there were only twelve models."

Roslin said glancing at Adama

"Well, you thought wrong -"

"What do you want?"

Roslin posed the question again cautiously after exchanging a glance with Adama. They knew that, if she was a Cylon, she could easily kill Lee and them before they could react - but why hadn't she?

"They made a mistake when they made me. I was too human. I began to sympathize - to gain a conscience. I objected and tried to stop the eradication of your race, but by the time the plans where made I was already a fugitive - I didn't put the pieces together in time and I'm sorry for that."

"And why should we believe that?"

Adama asked venomously

"I understand why you don't - maybe this will help"

She released Lee and flung him by his arm, choking to Adama.

"Know this Adama, I am one-of-a-kind - if I die, I'm dead and all I know goes with me. There are no more thirteens - no new body for me to wake up in. I know things that could help you - tactical information, technical information - I know what all the models look like and what their tactics are. I don't know where they're hiding in your fleet but I could help you find them."

"You would willingly share this information? Why?"

Roslin asked, the disbelief in her voice mirrored in the faces of Adama and his son.

"I'm not trying to preserve my life - I'll tell you what I know and walk out the nearest airlock if that's what you want - The Cylons are wrong, they had no right to attack your worlds, attempt annihilation of your species - I just want to help you."

They continued to stare at Thirteen suspiciously but all three noticed that there was, in fact, something different about her. She shifted her gaze slowly between Adama and Roslin.

"So,"

She began, lifting an eyebrow

"what's your next move?"


	2. The Nature of the Beast

Number Thirteen

Chapter Two: The Nature of the Beast

(Don't own anything!)

The cell was gray and dreary and the handcuffs were on too tight but this form of imprisonment was preferable to what her own would do to her if Adama and Roslin decided to kill her. Thirteen looked around the _Galactica _holding cell with a glint of amusement in her eye – _What if they don't kill me? I may have to spend the rest of my life in here! Maybe they'll build me a nice little display case like they did for that Eight._ - Thirteen suddenly laughed aloud causing her four guards to jump and point their weapons. She smiled an apology at them but they remained unmoved. Humans fascinated Thirteen and, although she knew she was superior to them, she didn't hate them or want power over them. It would have been much more fascinating to have re-established relations with their colonies and studied them in their natural environment. Even the mighty Admiral Adama was slightly out of his element in this situation. But then, that was fascinating too. Humans – toxic little creatures, from their vices to their torrents of emotion – it was a miracle they'd ever climbed out of their caves. Despite their flaws Thirteen admired their tenacity and ferocious will to live. Most of them strove to be more than what they were and that's made her care about the welfare of this remnant of humanity. Maybe she envied them as well – mostly because she could barely be more than the sum of her parts, _they_ were dynamic and ever-changing. She smiled again at the guard she'd been staring at – he hated her, they all did, but she still cared. The phone on the wall buzzed causing her to glance away and it wasn't long before her captors were parading her through the corridors on a metal leash. She didn't ask where they were taking her, she knew – Adama – she'd wondered how long he'd let her sit in her cell before curiosity got the better of him, two weeks, not bad.

Admiral Adama was tense, as if he didn't have enough to worry about another Cylon gets dropped in his lap. There was something strange about this one though. She'd been sitting in a holding cell for two weeks and hadn't spoken once – to plead for her life or otherwise – the guards said it felt like she was studying them. A metallic knock sounded on his hatch.

"Come."

He answered. Two guards stepped in followed by Thirteen and two more guards. They unhooked the poles from her collar and left at his nod. Thirteen was unlike Sharon in every way. She walked and stood proudly and eyed her surroundings curiously. There was an unusual confidence about her that had long left Sharon. These things, however, only served to make him more suspicious – she was still a Cylon after all. She didn't wait for a cue from him before taking a seat on his couch and catching his eyes. The guards were right – she seemed to study him.

"Why did you protect me from Cain?"

She asked silkily, smiling with her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

Adama asked, acting distracted. Thirteen's smile faded and her eyes became intense and she seemed to look through him. A lesser man would have squirmed under her gaze.

"Don't toy with me Bill – I know you encountered another battlestar, the _Pegasus_, Helena Cain's ship."

He didn't show his surprise at her knowledge of the _Pegasus _or the use of his first name, but she must have known because her sugary smile returned as did the glint in her eyes.

"I thought so – was she dead when the ship arrived or did you kill her?"

The steely question caught him off guard.

"That's enough! I'll ask the questions."

He snapped but she laughed softly and sank back onto the couch. He glared at her before walking to his desk and retrieving a folder. He couldn't help but feel that he was somehow selling his soul enlisting the help of this mysterious Cylon. He dropped the folder in front of her and she glanced at it and cocked her head at him.

"Open it."

He ordered. The corners of her mouth flickered as she opened the folder and began to study its contents. It was files of suspected Cylons and Cylon conspirators.

"No"

She stated as she dropped a file on the table to her left.

"Yes"

She dropped another file on her right. She copied her actions through the rest of the folder until it was divided into two stacks, Adama simply watching her as she worked and cast an occasional amused smile. The ease at which she went through the folder troubled him, he hoped that her instinct for self-preservation would compel her to be truthful – but what was the truth to a Cylon?

"Only one of these is a Cylon model you haven't seen – the rest are conspirators which are nearly as bad."

"What can we do to stop them?"

"You can't unless you catch them, in the mean time I'd watch your back they tried to kill you once, they'll do it again – anything to undermine your society."

He clasped his hands hard, they began to tremble as the memory of Sharon shooting him heated his memory. He called for her guards and watched as they restrained her and walked her out of his office. He sank onto his couch before the newly separated folder.

"I will never be able to deal with them like that."

Laura Roslin's voice made him look up. She'd been listening from his living area, they'd decided Thirteen would have responded better to him alone since she'd targeted him in the first place. He looked back down at the piles and sighed.

"Sometimes I can't either."

He felt Laura sit down next to him.

"How many?"

She asked quietly.

"One new Cylon model, six conspirators."

He picked up the folders and handed them to her, hand still trembling. She took the folders with one hand and his unsteady hand in the other.

"Are you ok Bill?"

She asked her concern spread honestly on her face

"I'm fine Laura."

He answered letting some of the gruffness slip out of his voice and hoping it would convince her. He didn't think he'd succeeded but she took the hint and released his hand. She leafed through the folders.

"Can I take these with me?"

She asked

"I think those are your copies anyway."

"Oh, ok – well, if there's nothing else."

An awkwardness had slipped into room somewhere between his show of weakness and her holding his hand. Adama rose.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning Madam President."

She returned his nod before exiting his quarters. They were a good team, they balanced each other even if they didn't always get along. He'd never admit it, but there was a weak part of him that needed her. That part of him made him wonder what he'd do when she was gone. He sank back onto his couch, leaned his head back and drifted to sleep.

_Blood, warm and sticky, dripped from his hands. No matter how many times he tried to wipe it off , it remained. He sank to his knees and felt the wet of the ground seep through his uniform. Finally tearing his eyes away from his hands, he looked out onto the barren field before him. It was littered with bodies, some familiar some not. He looked around and realized that the bodies were not just before him, but around him. A mass of blonde hair caught his attention, he got up and walked slowly to it. _

"_Oh, Kara."_

_He sobbed as he stared at her lifeless form. He looked away only to find Saul in his line of sight. He jerked away from both and found Laura. They were all there – his family. He sank once more to his knees and wept._

"_Why!"_

_He shouted into his hands. Suddenly his surroundings shifted – he was on Kobol and his hands were around a redhead's throat._

"_And you ask why?"_

_He gasped and jumped away. He was back with the bodies and the redhead stood tall, dressed in white her red hair blazing, an island of color in a sea of gray desolation. Her eyes, two green points, were cruel._

"_You could have stopped this – you were given the chance, but you failed – you killed them."_

"_No"_

_He objected, found his strength and stood defiantly before her._

"_I did everything I could."_

"_Well – it wasn't good enough was it?"_

_The wasteland dissappeared and he was in _Galactica's _CIC, his hand outstretched. The redhead stood before him dressed in a flight suit with her sidearm raised to his chest. Before he could react, she'd shot two rounds. He felt the life leaving him and his impact on the situation table then he was back in the barren field the redhead again standing over him. _

"_Do you think they'll forgive you?"_

"_For - what?"_

_He was choking on his own blood_

"_For abandoning them and allowing us to massacre them of course?"_

_She began to laugh ridiculously._


End file.
